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Identity In Twelfth Night By William Shakespeare

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Identity is characterized by the ability to present one’s individualism. In Willam Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night, the character Viola, a woman, relates to the complexity of identity while undergoing a disguise as a man named Cesario. Viola’s role in this play is to be a love messenger for the Duke, Orsino, as Orsino attempts to win over his potential lover’s heart, Olivia. As Viola and Orsino spend more time together, Viola finds herself in a complex situation where her affection for Orsino turns into a deep love. In Act II, scene 4, lines 104–121, Viola refrains from revealing her true feelings towards the person she loves, Orsino, by expressing her identity through her disguise; and this disguise only adds more torture for herself because …show more content…

As she plays Cesario, she never struggles with the idea of falling in love with Olivia; her only worry is that if she did tell Orsino about her true feelings, she would lose his trust and he would begin to question her loyalty because her feelings might interfere with what he wants, Olivia loving him. This moment shows how she is caught between her identities. In lines 104 and 105, Viola disguised as Cesario begins to speak in the third person, offering a male perspective on love rather than sharing her own feelings. She claims that a man's love is "as true of heart" as a woman's, implying that a woman can love a man in the same way that a man can love a woman. Viola continues to put a shift in her language, transitioning to the first and second-person point of view. This change draws attention to her action, as she starts to share personal stories. She shares a story with Orsino while making an indirect reference to herself by saying, "[Her] father had a daughter [who] loved a man as it might be, perhaps, were I a woman, I should your lordship." This signifies Viola’s approach to getting closer to expressing her true feelings. She is aware that she would feel the same way about Orsino if she were in her position as a woman. However, she still holds back due to the fear of losing him forever from telling him that she loves him when she uses

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